It's been 40 years since the first all-night R&B party at the Wigan Casino nightclub outside Manchester, England. The doors didn't open until 2 a.m., and its 1,200-capacity ballroom was packed until dawn with dance-crazy (possibly amphetamine-fueled) soul fans. They called the uptempo vibe Northern Soul, after the region of England that fell in love with rare '60s R&B.
To mark the anniversary, KALW producer and local soul DJ, Ashleyanne Krigbaum curated a 24/7 music channel devoted to the best R&B songs you've likely never heard. For every Marvin Gaye or Wilson Pickett song in the mix, there's another 50 incredible jams by artists who never quite made a name for themselves.
LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST NOW ON NPR.ORG.
The Northern Soul Radio playlist brings together the tracks that launched the genre in the 1970s with the songs that dominate the revivalist soul party scene in San Francisco today — some of which were digitized for the first time just for this collection.
Turn the speakers up, break out the dancefloor, and copp a groove to the most shaking soul songs that San Francisco's DJs have to offer--exclusive from KALW!